Comments on: Traffic, Calmed

By: aaron

aaron — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:08:34 +0000

Ahh. Nothing like the cold death of society to bring peace to man.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:33:07 +0000

We have about 2 feet on the ground here in Flagstaff. Some people know how to prepare and are ready to deal with it, others don’t and wait around from someone else to do something.

I’m really surprised at the bitching coming out of NYC. As Rebecca noted, they were overwhelmed during a budget crisis and during the holidays. Deal with it. Cope. Help your neighbors.

Last year we got 4 feet in less than a week. I learned to ski home from work or use my snowshoes. It became more of an adventure and a headache. Yes, the snow berms narrowed the street considerably but that sure too care of the problems of cars speeding through the neighborhood.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 04:48:36 +0000

I agree with Jay from Edmunton that preparation is everything.

But to be fair, New York City didn’t get 1 inch of snow; we got 2 feet of snow with 68 miles-per-hour (110 kph) winds!
Not to mention it was the day after Christmas (skeleton crews only) and the city is facing bankruptcy.

My hat’s off to you and your fellow Canadians on how you handle snow. I wish we could do the same, but I’d rather not have so much practice with huge snowstorms - you can keep it!

By: CARL

CARL — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:22:33 +0000

Yes, we like it.
and “Hello” from France
cjl

http://bougezautrementablois.over-blog.com/article-ce-que-la-neige-nous-apprend-61976688.html

By: Opus the Poet

Opus the Poet — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:33:48 +0000

I think the reason for southern US cities shutting down for an inch or less of snow is not so much the amount but the consistency of the snow. When I lived in Salt Lake the canyons would routinely get 2 feet of snow, but the snow was very light and the temperature was low enough at that altitude that driving in those conditions was not too bad. When I moved to TN I had to use ice-racing driving techniques to maintain forward progress and control with anything over 1/2″ of snow on the roads because the conditions were just that treacherous. The fact that I had training in ice-racing gave me a step up over the other pizza guys and the local constabulary in getting where I was going. Also driving a tiny FWD car when they were all driving big V8 RWD cars had a major factor in it also. Being able to apply drive to the directional control wheels with the other end locked up was a big part of pointing in the right direction, and a manual transmission with a light foot in a car that wasn’t wildly over-powered helped with the making forward progress.

By: Betty Barcode

Betty Barcode — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:29:05 +0000

We Buffalonians always chortle when airports to the south close or cancel flights over an inch of snow. Our airport closes maybe once or twice a decade due to winter storms. And we’re not even the snow capital of New York State (Syracuse has that honor), much less the USA.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:05:54 +0000

@Thomas: my sister attended college at Emory, and made quite a good bit of money driving folks around on “snow days” while there. She was not as prepared as, say, Jay from Edmonton, but she knew to drive well enough to pay attention to increased stopping distances and what-all.

Preparedness is key, of course. It’s cheaper to keep people off the roads than have snow plows in some places.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:15:47 +0000

In Edmonton Canada this is certainly true. That picture looks like any winter day here, but we get up in the morning and go to work like any other day. We’ve had visitors from the south comment on how our weather is “amazing” (in a bad way) but how the truly amazing thing is that even at minus 40C or with a foot of snow in the last 24 hours we just get up, dig the car out and go about our days. But if Vancouver or even Seattle gets an inch of snow it is a disaster!

Same with the airports. Our airport regularly gets the same amount of snow that Heathrow and Gatwick got last week, but we keep flying through the worst of it.

And it is for the same reason. We are PREPARED for it. We have the snow removal equipment, everyone puts a survival kit in their car if they are going anywhere out of town, and we even throw them in sometimes when we are just running around town! And our airport has not only snow clearing equipment, but also a huge de-icing set up.

It isn’t how much snow you get, it is how prepared you are to deal with it, IMO.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:37:58 +0000

I wonder how much there is to unpack about the relative degree of inclement weather based on the location of a city.

I bring this up because Atlanta just had it’s first white Xmas in over 120 years. It’s well documented that, once a few flurries fall, Georgians lose the ability to drive with any acuity. Even a light dusting of snow is considered treacherous in the extreme. Schools close. Local news goes into overdrive and we’re constantly admonished how unsafe it is to drive in such conditions.

For those of us that grew up in the midwest, it’s kind of comical.

Was wondering your thoughts on the subject?